Cheesecake and Pickle Juice
by Socks5454
Summary: Story and Ms. Plumpet have seen the Girls Lodging House through thick and thin. But on that fateful night when Story sends Clover on a simple errand...everything changes. The Newsies worlds are turned upside down, and all because of a simple handshake.
1. The Creature of the Night

**Hello! I'm Magnifi-Socks (mag-nee-fee) but you can just call me Socks. This is my first real fic for Newsies, actually my first fic for anything. So I'm a little nervous about all this. I have the first three chapters already all written. This ones mainly just the introduction of the characters and all that jazz. Oh, and the title has nothing what so ever to do with the story. I named it at three in the morning, give me a break. Well, on to the story…**

_A little boy around the age of eleven stood alone in a damp, dark alley. His chocolate-brown hair flew back in a big gust of wind. The crisp wind caused him to shiver as it surrounded him. He wrapped his little arms around him in an attempt to keep warm. It did nothing, for the wind kept pelting itself at his little form._

'_Oh, where was the person who he was told to meet? He should have been there over a half hour ago!' The little boy squinted his deep brown eyes to try and look through the darkness that surrounded him. It was no use; the darkness was so thick you could have cut through it with a knife. He had half a mind to take out his pocketknife and try, but he knew that was a dumb idea, for it would never work. So the boy stood in the cold, dark alley all by himself, waiting for the person who had written the mysterious letter to him early that morning. The letter had said to meet him, or her, here at midnight to discuss something important._

_After a half hour of waiting in the cold, he decided that no one would show, so he started to make his way out of the alley. It was hard because the alley was full of boxes and junk, so every few steps, he would stumble into something. As he moved closer and closer to the mouth of the alley, the wind started to get stronger and stronger, until soon it was so strong that it caused him to take a few steps back, for he couldn't move forward anymore._

_"What's happening?" he wondered. Then, through the loud noises of the wind, he heard a voice softly calling a name. He listened closely and realized that the name the voice was calling was his._

_"Zzzzaaaaacckkkkk...Zzzzzzaaaaaccckkk," it said in a soft voice. The wind got stronger each time his name was said._

_"Who's there!? What do you want!?" he yelled to the mysterious voice._

_The voice didn't answer, but continued repeating his name, and each time, more and more heavier wind was thrown into him. Soon he couldn't take it anymore. The wind was too much for him to try and fight against. He was blown off of his feet and sent flying backwards into something cold and slimy._

_The wind stopped dead in its path, and an eerie silence filled his ears. Green, slimy, oozy arms wrapped around his body. He tried to scream, but no words came out. The creature laughed an evil, spine-tingling laugh that made every hair on the boy's body prickle. As hard as he tried to escape the evil grasp, he wasn't strong enough. The creature slowly pushed the boy against itself, harder and harder, until the little eleven-year-old boy was oozed into its green, slimy stomach. _

_Once the boy was dead inside it, the creature grew five inches taller and eight inches longer. You see, this is how the creature of the night feeds and grows. Its plan is to eat as many innocent life forms as it can until it becomes so large that it can take over the world. That's its goal, and it won't stop until its goal is complete. So beware, for you never know if you might be its next victim. _

_The End._

"Wow. Great story, Story!" Snoozie said.

"Yeah! You had everyone on the edge of their seat for that one!" Clover exclaimed.

"Why, thank you very much. I did really enjoy making it up, although I enjoy making anything up," Story said with a satisfied smile. "Well, it's getting late. I think it's about time we all went to bed. We do have to sell tomorrow."

"I suppose you're right," Snoozie said. She climbed into her bed, and before anyone could even blink, she was asleep and softly snoring.

Story smiled at her friend. Snoozie did live up to her name, that was for sure. Her long light-brown hair flowed nicely over her pillow, and although you couldn't see it now, her eyes were a cloudy blue color.

Snoozie had to be the most interesting girl in the girls' lodging house in Story's opinion. She seemed to have a mysterious side to her. No one really knew where she came from; she just showed up one day. Many of the newsies had asked her countless times, yet she wouldn't say a thing. Personally, Story thought that Snoozie really just enjoyed making people wonder about her. She liked to see what they could come up with. Story found this rather amusing.

"'Night, Story. 'Night, Mackenzie," Clover's voice said somewhere in the back of her head. Story was pulled back to reality.

"'Night, Clover," she said.

Clover, another one of her friends. Clover had wavy light-brown hair and a sort of light green eye color. She was the same age as Story, fifteen, yet she was about five inches shorter. Clover was probably the funniest out of all the girls. She always seemed to have a smile on her face and come up with some joke. Her jokes tended to be really stupid at times, but that what made them so funny. Story remembered the first time Clover wandered over to the girls' lodging house, looking for a place to stay and some type of job that she could actually get money for without being stuffed away in a dangerous factory. She was so shy that you could barely understand what she was saying because she talked so quietly. But now you couldn't get the girl to shut up, unfortunately.

Story smiled and went to crawl into bed when she remembered something. Mackenzie. She looked over at the little girl, who was standing next to her bed with big emerald eyes.

"Hey, 'Kenzie, you alright?"

"I'm scared," she said in a whisper.

"Of what?"

"That story you told us."

"Oh! Don't be. I made it all up; I promise it's not real."

"Yes, it is."

"Great, you scared the kid," Clover mumbled over in her bed.

"Shut up, Clover. Listen, 'Kenzie, it's not real."

The girl went over to Story. She looked up at her with beautiful eyes and tugged on her sleeve to get her to bend down. Mackenzie leaned over to whisper something in Story's ear. As she did, the girl's tight ginger curls tickled Story's cheek. "Can I sleep with you tonight?" she whispered.

Story smiled. "Of course."

Mackenzie let out a sigh of relief and hopped into Story's bed after her.

Mackenzie had been brought to the girls' lodging house by her grandmother a year before. It was the only place left for her to go because her grandmother couldn't take care of her anymore, and all the orphanages were full. She was an eight year old at the time, but it had been a year since then. For a nine-year-old, she was amazingly street-smart and not so bad at school smarts either. Mackenzie wasn't her real name; it was her newsie name. Her real name was Sara. She was friends with Les, and Les would get confused when people talked about Sara because he wasn't sure if it was his sister or his friend, so he changed her name for her. It just seemed to stick.

One other girl lived at the girls' lodging house who Story hadn't considered yet. And that one would be herself. She lay in bed, Mackenzie next to her, and thought about everything that had happened throughout the day. Then she would pick the least exciting topic and turn it into a story filled with adventure. It was her favorite thing in the whole world to do, make up stories. Story had the biggest imagination in all of New York, according to the newsies. Because of her great abilities, she was an excellent newsie; she could make up great lies and make them sound so real, as if she had been there. Only sometimes, her imagination could get the better of her and the lies seemed very unlikely to people.

Story was the tallest out of all the girl newsies at 57. She had also been around the longest. Story had seen the girls' lodging house at its best and at its worst. There was once a time when the place was so full that there were hardly enough beds for everyone. Now look at it: four girls, how pathetic. Four girls who didn't make a whole lot of money, so how could the place keep running? Sure, the city helped pay for it, but it also used the money that it got from the girls to get better living conditions and luxuries. With four girls, that was pretty hard to do.

So Story had seen it through thick and thin, and she really hoped that it wouldn't close down, because then they would have no place to go. She sighed and brushed some of her dirty-blonde hair out of her green eyes. Story closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, wondering what Andrew was doing right this second.

**Well, that's the first chapter. Like I said before, it was really just to introduce everyone into the story. Next chapter is at the boys lodging house where we meet Andrew. If you want, review, if not, don't. Just please don't say something like, "Your story sucks, you should go get trampled by a pig." Then I would feel bad because I love piggies. CTB!**

**Hobey-ho, **

**-Socks**


	2. Dart games and Creaky Beds

**Hi! Last time I forgot to give credit to the people who fixed up the story so thanks Flare, Pegasus, and Lily! This is a short chapter, just so you can meet Darts. Then after this we get into the story more, or at least I hope we do…**

"Fellas! Get your sorry rear ends inta bed so poor Kloppman won't have ta deal with ya in the mornin'!" a tall, handsome boy, otherwise known as Jack Kelly, shouted to his newsies.

"Aw, Jack! Can't ya wait till the game's finished so I can get me winnings?" a short Italian boy demanded as he sat on a bed, watching a game of darts.

"We all know Darts is gonna win, Race. How do ya think he got his name?

"I know that," Race said with a smile. "I just want the money that I bet on him."

"Well, tell 'em ta hurry it up, okay?"

"Right." He turned to the two boys with second darts in their hands. "Hey, hurry it up, would ya, fellas! Come on, Snoddy, we all know Darts is winnin', just call it quits."

"Whatever. Race is right. Darts, you win, again. Let's go ta bed, it's getting late," Snoddy said as he slowly made his way over to his bunk.

Race jumped up and collected the money he'd bet on Darts. "Good game, Darts! Look at that, you got me a whole 'nother dollar!" he exclaimed happily.

"Anything for you, Race," Darts said in a bored tone. He had joined the newsies a month and a half after the strike. His real name was Andrew, and he was Story's twin brother. At the age of twelve, something had happened to their family that they never wished to speak of again. They were forced to live out on the street. Andrew knew he couldn't take care of himself and his sister, so he brought her to the girls' lodging house for safekeeping. He had lived on the streets for a couple of years before he realized that he could stay in a lodging house for boys. So he had come back and met up with Story again. It was a shocker for her when she found out her twin was still alive.

Darts looked a lot like Story. He was an inch taller, with the same dirty-blonde hair and green eyes. The way they did some simple everyday things, like eating or walking, was the same too. The two of them were very close, yet their personalities could contrast at times. If you ever asked Darts to make up a story to tell the little kids, nothing would come to mind. And if you ever asked Story to play a game of darts, then there would be a great possibility that some poor soul would end up with a dart through the eye. Just ask Kid Blink. (kidding!)

Darts pulled himself up onto the bunk above Snipeshooter. The bed creaked violently as he did. He plopped his head down on his pathetic excuse for a pillow and closed his eyes. No matter which way he turned, a spring stuck into his side. He was used to it by now, though, and it rarely bothered him anymore. Slowly, his brain went into sleep mode, and he was off in dreamland.

**Well! There you go! Review if you want. Those nice 4 reviews that I did get made me very happy…AND no one told me to get trampled by a pig! Yippee!**

**Pegasus- thank you very much :-)**

**Friz- Hi! You're like sitting next to me right now sewing the giant whole in my pant leg! Me: "What else should I say to you?" Friz: "You are the best person in the whole world." Me: "Ok" Friz, you are the best person in the whole world! (not)**

**Racerchick- Glad you like Kenzie and Story! Hmm, what else should I say…You should hurry up and update Never Fear Brooklyn is Here because its really good!**

**Flare- Last night I was talking to my friend (Friz) and the whole story just poofed into my head! And when I get more chapters out would you mind reading them? **


	3. Story's story

**Hi. If anyone's still reading this, sorry for the wait. I've actually had this chapter ready but I'm lazy and didn't put it on…but now, by the force of Friz, I am! **

"Hannah, Hannah. Wake up," a soft voice called somewhere in the back of Story's head. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Things were blurry for a moment, so she blinked until everything came into focus. A short, plump woman was hovering over her.

"Wake up, Hannah. Time to sell some newspapers!" she said merrily.

Ms. Plumpet, the woman who ran the show at the girls' lodging house. She was a very kind woman in her late fifties. Ms. Plumpet was definitely not your average woman, though. She wasn't Miss Prim and Proper; oh, no, she the opposite. She was never afraid to get her hands dirty doing a little work, and she certainly didn't always speak like a woman should. The upper-class people frowned upon her, saying how she was unladylike and too manly. Others said that she was getting older and starting to lose her mind a bit. While some, like the newsies, looked at her as a role model.

Her saying was, "Sweetie, you only live life once, so you might as well live it to your fullest potential." The girls tried their best to go by that, yet there were times when they had to draw the line. As much as boys' clothing was far more comfortable than theirs, they had to think about it logically; how many customers would honestly want to buy a paper from a girl who was messed up and thought she was a guy? Also, girls drinking and swearing wasn't approved of. Yet the girls really didn't even see the need to do that anyway. There were times when they would act out with their male newsie friends, but they never told anyone

Ms. Plumpet acted like a mother figure to the girls, and they loved her very much. One other thing about Ms. Plumpet: if she loved your real name, then no matter how hard you tried, she would call you that name and not your newsie name. Just so she could secretly laugh at your aggravation.

"Come, Hannah. Get up, carry the banner, or whatever it is you children do," she mumbled to herself as she walked out of the room.

Story pulled herself up into a sitting position and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She yawned and stretched. It was her job to wake up everyone else in the bunkroom because they were all extremely difficult to get up, and Ms. Plumpet had other things to do, like preparing a small breakfast for the girls. Story yawned again and pulled herself out of bed.

Mackenzie was the closest, considering she was in Story's bed, so she would be Story's first victim. She tiptoed over to the other side of her bed—tiptoeing only because the wooden floor was extremely cold on the bottoms of her feet. Story bent down and shook the little girl.

"Hey, 'Kenzie, it's time to get up," she whispered. The girl didn't even move. Story sighed; it was the same thing every day. She simply scooped her sleeping form out of bed and placed her in a standing position on the ground. Mackenzie's legs gave out, and she fell to the floor. The fall woke her up like it did every day. In the morning, she was too tired to talk, and she simply made her way over to the washroom.

Next was Clover. Story went over to her and looked at her sleeping. She had a smile on her face and she was breathing steadily, the blankets moving up and down with the rhythm of her breath. _Hate ta disturb you,_ though Story. And without a second thought, she flipped over the mattress, sending Clover on to the floor.

"God, Story! I'm bruised all over from you giving me your nice wake-up call every morning!" she complained.

"Oh, suck it up. Get up and get ready so we can eat."

Clover shrugged and did just that.

Last, Snoozie. "Great," mumbled Story. This wake-up process had to be done just right or else you might get a fist in the face. Story cleared her throat.

"JANE!!!!! WAKE UP!!!" she screeched at the top of her lungs.

Snoozie bolted upright in bed with a scowl. "Don't EVER call me Jane again! How many times do I have to tell you!"

"Maybe about once more, because you know it'll happen again tomorrow and the next day and the

next day and so on until you wake up on your own, which I highly doubt will be any time soon."

"Whatever. Just go get ready while I wake up more."

"So now youse bossing me around, huh? Little thirteen-year-old thinks she can take on a big, scary fifteen-year-old?" Story said with a smile; she loved teasing Snoozie in the morning.

"Just go away."

"Yes, ma'am."

Story made her way over to the washroom. It was a fairly big washroom, for at one time, there had been a lot of girls. Now there were only four, so they had their choice of sinks and bathrooms. Story went over to her usual sink near the wall, pumped some water into it, reached up onto a shelf next to the mirror, and pulled down a light brown washcloth. She dunked it into the water and pulled it out, ringing out the extra water, and started to wash her face. After her face was wet and clean, she placed the damp cloth on its rack again to dry, grabbed a dry towel, and dabbed her face.

Story looked at herself in the mirror. It wasn't a very good mirror; it was small and rusted on the edges, but it was a mirror all the same. Her blonde hair was a mess, so she grabbed a small comb and started to pull at the knots. After a minute or so of hair wrestling, her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail.

Next came her clothes. Story wandered back over to her bed and reached under it, pulling out a pillowcase. Inside was all the clothing she owned. She pulled out a blue plaid skirt and stepped into it; it fell a few inches past her knees. Her hand slipped back into the pillowcase, and she felt around until her fingers found her shirt. She took out the light blue blouse and pulled it over her head. Next came her socks. They were black and knee-length; she pulled them over her feet, put on her black shoes, and was ready to start her day.

Story looked around to see how the other girls were doing. Mackenzie and Clover were both getting dressed. Snoozie, on the other hand, was just getting out of bed and stumbling over to the washroom. Story smiled and shook her head.

"Story! Can you help me?" Mackenzie asked.

Story went over to Mackenzie, who was trying to tie up the back of her worn-out gray dress. The dress was a little too short and only went to above her ankles, and it was pretty much falling apart. It was because she didn't make enough money to get a new one, but she didn't mind too much; she was a kid, after all, and didn't care much about those types of things. So Story tied the back of her dress so it wouldn't fall down.

Clover came up and stood next to her. "You ready?" she asked.

"Yup. Let's go see what we got for breakfast today."

Clover wore a simple dark green dress that at least fit her comfortably. Story was easily the best dressed out of all of them. That was only because she sold more papers because she could come up with really good stories.

The three girls went down the creaky steps, leaving Snoozie to take the time she needed to wake up completely and get ready. As they went down the steps, each one creaked, and a small cloud of dust came up around their feet. At the bottom of the steps, there was a small hallway. Ahead of them was the big wooden door that led outside; to the right was a rather large kitchen, and to the left was a sitting room/library that the girls called "the Lace Room" because it had big windows with long lace curtains. Off the lace room was a small room were they learned to sew and make clothes every Sunday and Thursday.

The girls turned right into the kitchen. This room had light brown wallpaper that was slightly peeling in some spots. There was a long row of wooden counters along one wall with a sink and cupboards up above them. On the opposite wall was an old stove and a pantry. In the middle of the room was a large, simple wooden table that could hold about fifteen people, but it currently only had five chairs around one end. There were five small windows around the room that let in a ray of golden light.

In the middle of the row of counters was a plate of toast with five smaller plates stacked up next to it. Ms. Plumpet was pulling down a stick of butter from one of the cupboards. When she heard the girls come in, she turned around and smiled.

"Well, how are my lovely young ladies today?" she said merrily.

"Hungry," answered Mackenzie.

Ms. Plumpet laughed. "Well, that's good, because I made you all some toast with butter today."

"Good. I barely had anything to eat last night," Clover said.

"Well then, don't just stand there; come and grab a plate of food."

Mackenzie ran over, grabbed a plate, and started to pile toast onto it.

"'Kenzie! Leave some for everyone else, why don't ya!" Clover said.

Mackenzie sighed. "Fine." And she put some toast back.

Once everyone had their food, they sat at their usual seats around the table and started to eat. "Snoozie still getting ready?" Ms. Plumpet asked.

"What do you think?" Story replied.

"What is it with that child? She's always so slow in the morning. She won't have any time to eat if she gets ready at this pace."

"Do you think she fell asleep and fell into the toilet and drowned?" Mackenzie asked.

Ms. Plumpet laughed. "You never know with that girl."

Just then, a half-asleep Snoozie stumbled in. She had a dark brown skirt on that went down to below her ankles and an off-white shirt that was on backwards. Everyone started to laugh at the sight of her shirt.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Honey, you might want to take a good look in the mirror next time," Ms. Plumpet said while trying to hold in a laugh.

"What?"

"Your shirt's on backwards!" Mackenzie blurted out.

Snoozie looked down and sighed. "I guess it is." She turned it back around and got her toast as if nothing had happened. Five minutes later, everyone was done and about to leave.

"Now remember, girls. You only live life once, so you..." Ms. Plumpet started.

"Might as well live it to the fullest," everyone said in unison.

"We know; you say that every day," Snoozie pointed out.

"I know I do, because it is very important. Now, good luck selling today, and take care of yourselves. I'll be here all day today if you ever need me," she said as they went out the door.

"'Bye! See you this afternoon!" they all called out to her.

And so they went off on their five-minute walk to the Distribution Center. The streets were starting to fill with people on their way to work and the everyday hustle and bustle. Story inhaled the chilly New York City air into her lungs and looked skyward. The sky was a deep blue with a few white fluffy clouds mixed in with the dark clouds of smoke from the factories. A few birds flew overhead.

"Story, will you tell us a story until we get there?" Mackenzie asked hopefully. Clover and Snoozie agreed.

"Certainly...hmmm...

_"Once apon a time there was a pirate who had only one eye, so he had to wear an eyepatch. He was on his beloved ship, _The Slingshot_, which was the fastest ship in the whole ocean. Nothing could catch it._

_One day, he had stolen a magic walking stick from an evil pirate who some called the Cranky Pink Man. The Cranky Pink Man was known for killing anyone who came within five feet of him, so when the one-eyed pirate stole his magic walking stick while he was sleeping, he was furious. So he chased the one-eyed pirate's ship, even though he knew he wouldn't catch it._

_But just because his ship wasn't as fast as _The Slingshot_didn't mean that he couldn't outsmart the one-eyed pirate. He knew that coming up was a place where there were thousands of jagged rocks below the water that you couldn't see, but could tear a ship apart in seconds. So The Cranky Pink Man circled around the rocks while _The Slingshot_ continued going straight. Just like he predicted, the one-eyed pirate's beloved ship got torn apart by the rocks._

_He saw the one-eyed pirate jump into the water with the walking stick and swim to shore. The Cranky Pink Man jumped off his ship and swam to shore after the other pirate. When he got to the shore, he was soaked to the skin. He looked around but couldn't see the one-eyed pirate anywhere, so he left to go look up the shore. The one-eyed pirate was secretly hiding behind a bush. He let out a sigh of relief and quickly got up and went in the other direction of The Cranky Pink Man. As he was walking along, he saw a man with a horse riding along._

_'Hello there!' he called out_

_The man looked around and stopped his horse. He was wearing a cowboy hat. 'Howdy. What can I do for you?' the cowboy said._

_'I need a ride away from here, could you give me lift?'_

_'Well, certainly.'_

_So the one-eyed pirate got on the horse with the cowboy and rode off."_

The girls had just reached the Distribution Center.

"Well, we're here. I told you I would only tell a story until we got to our destination," Story said

"Aww!" Mackenzie whined.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you the rest some other time."

"Oh, ok," Mackenzie said.

They walked thought the gates where a load of loud newsboys awaited them. Mackenzie forgot about the story when she saw Les and Boots and ran over to say hi. Clover saw Skittery talking to Darts and Kid Blink and smiled.

"Hey, look, it's the Cranky Pink Man and the one-eyed pirate," she whispered to Story. They both burst into giggles.

'What are you guys laughing about?" a voice said behind them. They both turned around to see a brown-, curly-haired boy, Itey, who was Story's best guy friend.

"Oh, nothing," Clover said with a smile.

"I see."

"Hey! Clover! Come heah!" Racetrack called from near the front of the line.

"Wonder what the bum wants now," Clover said. Race was one her best friends besides Story and Snoozie. So she went off to see what he what he wanted.

Story looked over at Itey, who was standing next to her, chewing on his suspenders. She smiled at his odd habit. Itey and Story had been friends ever since she first came to the girls' lodging house.

"So, how do those suspenders taste?" she asked

"Pretty good, actually. Have you come up with any good stories to improve our selling?"

"No. I like to make them up as I think of them."

"As always," he said with a smile. Just then, Bumlets appeared with a big smile on his face. He was also good friends with Story.

"What are you so happy about, Bum?" Story asked.

"Just happy to alive, I guess! Do you ever need a reason to smile?" he said happily.

"No, I guess you don't. So how are things?"

"As good as the life of a newsie can be."

"That's good. Hey, did you guys hear about that fire across from the girls' lodging house? At that convenience store? The whole place was completely engulfed in flames! The noise of the fire was so much louder than I would ever expect, and the heat, wow, the second you went outside, it was like you got pelted with a wave of heat! The husband and wife who owned the place haven't been found yet, so everyone's pretty much sure that they died."

"Whoa!" Bumlets said with wide eyes.

"I know. Wouldn't that be a horrible way to die?" Story said sympathetically.

Itey looked at Story suspiciously. Snoozie, who had been standing next to them the whole time, snorted and tried not to smile. "Story," Itey said with a know-it-all smile.

"Yes?" she asked innocently.

"Was that true?"

Story gasped and looked surprised. "You sayin' you don't believe me, Itey?

"Yeah, that's what I'm sayin'."

"Well then, if that's what you think, I think you just might be right," she said with a smile forming on her lips.

"I knew it," he said.

"Wait, so there wasn't a fire?" Bumlets said with a confused expression written all over his face.

"Nothing gets past you, Bumlets," Story said as she stepped up to get her papers.

A nice old man looked out from behind the bars. He had taken over Weasel's job after the strike. His name was Mr. Lawrence, but all the newsies called him by his first name, Max. He made sure he knew all of the newsies' names.

"Good morning, Story. How are you today?" he said in a deep, kind voice.

"Very good, sir. How about you?"

"Very good. How many will it be today?"

"Could I see a paper first, please?"

"Certainly," he said as he slid a paper under the bars. Story took it and quickly scanned the headlines. "Well, it's not too bad today. I'll take eighty, please."

"Eighty papes!" he called over his shoulder. A short little boy with bleach-blonde hair came up and handed Mr. Lawrence the papers. "Here you go, Story. That will be forty cents."

Story gave him the money and took her papers, placing them comfortably under her arm. "Have a good day," she said.

"You too."

She walked down the ramp and wandered over to Darts, who was talking to Kid Blink and Skittery. Kid Blink saw her first and smiled.

"Heya, Story!" he said happily.

Story smiled. "Hey, Blink, how are ya?"

"Good, you?"

"Good."

"Tell any good stories lately?" he asked.

A mop of curly ginger hair appeared next to Story. "Yeah, she has!" Mackenzie said excitedly, her emerald eyes glistening. "One was about this boy, and he got eaten by The Creature of the Night. And the other one was about you and Skittery!"

Blink's smile got even wider. "About us?"

"Yup! You were the one-eyed pirate and Skittery was The Cranky Pink Man who was trying to kill you for stealing his magical walking stick."

Kid Blink and Darts burst into laughter. Skittery frowned and looked at Story with raised eyebrows. You could tell he was obviously faking it considering his eyes seemed as if they were smiling. "So I'm the Cranky Pink Man now?" he asked in a fake angry voice.

"Well, I gotta go!" Story said, smiling. She quickly turned around, grabbed Itey, who had just gotten his papers, and ran out onto the street.

"What was that for?" Itey asked.

"Nothing. Now let's get selling." And she swiftly walked down the street with Itey trailing behind her.

After about ten minutes or so of walking, they were at a busy marketplace. Story stopped, and Itey came up beside her.

"So what's the big headline today?" he asked.

"Remember that story I told you before, about that fire?"

"Yeah."

"There you go!" she said with a smile, and went off in the crowd to sell. She pulled a paper out from under her arm and held it up. "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" she yelled to the crowd. "Fire destroys store!"

"Hey over here!" she heard someone yell behind her. She turned around and handed a paper to a scruffy-looking man, who tossed her a penny.

"Thank you very much, sir," she said as she turned back to the crowd of people. She knew that completely lying wasn't good, but it helped her get the money she badly needed. In a week, it would be Mackenzie's birthday, and she and the other girls had been saving up their extra money to buy her a new dress. They saw a perfect one in a store that cost $5.50. So far in the past seven months, they had saved up $4.86. They needed only sixty-four cents more, and Story was 100 sure they could do it, considering that if everything went as planned today, then she would make eighty cents and could have sixteen left over for supper tonight. Then Mackenzie could have the perfect dress that she greatly needed.

For the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, Story and Itey continued to sell. By around two o'clock, Itey had sold out and Story had two remaining papers. Both of their stomachs were growling, so they decided to look for a vendor selling apples or something. Since they were in a marketplace, they didn't have to look too far. Across the street were a young woman and two little girls selling juicy red apples. Story went up to them and smiled.

"How much would two apples be?" she asked politely

"Four cents," said one of the little girls, who looked to be no more then three or four. She had limp dark brown hair and huge brown eyes, and her face was smeared with dirt. Story smiled and fished around in her pocket for four cents.

"I'll give you two apples for three cents if you give me a newspaper," said the worn-out looking mother.

"Deal," she said as she handed her a paper and three cents. She then reached down and scooped up two shiny red apples. Itey gave the lady four cents and took two apples of his own. They thanked the woman and made their way along the streets down to the harbor, which was about five minutes away. In that time, Story was able to sell her last remaining paper.

At the harbor, they trudged over to a dock and plopped down, thankful to be off of their feet. Story looked down at her two apples, then at her hands. She made a face; her hands were completely black from the ink off the newspapers. Setting down her two apples next to her, she tried her best to wipe off her hands on Itey's pants. Why dirty up her own her skirt even more, she thought. Itey looked at her with a confused expression.

"Story, what are you doing?"

"Getting the ink off my hands so I can eat my apple."

"On my pants?

"Why not? They're already dirty anyways."

He shrugged and took a large bit out of his apple. Story did the same. A sweet, juicy taste filled her mouth as she crunched on the apple. Absent-mindedly she slowly swayed her feet back and forth under the dock.

After a few minutes of silence and eating, Story only had two apple cores left. She tossed them both into the water and watched as they floated back and forth with the water as it lapped up against a dock pole. There were two more small plops as Itey threw in his remaining cores.

"You ready ta go?" he asked.

Story sighed and stretched. "I guess so."

Slowly, they both stood up and started to make their way back home.

**Racerchick: It's called Cheesecake and Pickle Juice because for a while I didn't know what the plot was going to be so I couldn't name it…and I came up with that for the time being. Eventually it will be changed. **

**Friz: This ones not short:-)**

**Pegasus: Hi! Yes, Race is a sneaky one. He'll have a bigger part as the story goes on too! **


	4. Sunrises and Empty Logs

**Authors Note: Hey! I'm sorry I'm a bad updater. :-( I just need to be in the mood to write and for some reason writing on the computer always makes me really tired so I can only write so much at a time. Anyways, I'm here now with a new chapter! It's pretty boring though, but necessary…**

...12:00am Girls Lodging House...

Story sat on her bed with Clover and Snoozie in darkness. In between them was a handful of money. Mackenzie was asleep in her bed, softly breathing.

"Ok we made over enough money with everything combined," Story said in a whisper.

"How much is there?" Snoozie asked.

"Six dollars," She replied

"Wow. I don't think I have ever had that much money to spend in my whole entire life. Actually, I don't think I've EVER had that much money for anything before," Clover whispered with big eyes.

"I know. So what else should we get her?" Snoozie said

"How about some hair ribbons to go with the dress or a doll or something," Clover replied.

"I think we should get her a doll," said Snoozie

"It would have to be one for ten cents or less or else…" Story started to say but stopped when she heard the sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs.

A short, round, Ms. Plumpet slowly shuffled into the dark room. She looked around for a second until her eyes landed on three shapes in the darkness.

"Girls? Is that you?" She whispered.

"Yes Ms. Plumpet," They replied.

"Oh my! What are you all doing awake at this hour! You know you have to wake up early to sell. And Snoozie of all people! You can't even wake up early when you get to sleep at a reasonable time."

"We're sorry Ms. Plumpet, but we were combining our money so we can get something for Kenzie and we didn't want her to know about it," Clover said.

"Well you didn't have to do it in middle of the night! New York City is a huge place, are you telling me that you couldn't have gone off somewhere without the child for a moment during the day?"

"We're sorry," All three of them said.

"Wonderful. Now get into bed and go to sleep, just remember not to give anyone any grief in the morning."

"Yes ma'am."

Clover and Snoozie quietly got down off of Story's bed and went over to their own. Story grabbed the money and shoved it in the bag under her bed with all of her clothes before she got under the covers and closed her eyes. In moments they were all sound asleep.

* * *

Clover rolled over on her creaky bed. She opened her eyes a crack and saw that it was still dark. Pulling her sheets closer to her, she closed her eyes again and attempted to fall back asleep. She knew it was no use though, the dream she had just woken up from kept replaying in her mind, making it almost impossible for her sleep. Clover had had this same dream for past few nights. Her and Race were walking hand and hand to the races. Clover knew she wasn't supposed to be there, that she should be doing something more important, but Race wouldn't let go of her hand. No matter how hard she tried to pull away, no matter how hard she tried to tell Racetrack that she had to be somewhere else, he wouldn't let go. Only when he finally got to a good spot to watch the race did he let go of her hand. Clover would go to walk away but every time she tired a big, greasy, man would block her, not allowing her to pass. She would always wake up just as the man was grabbing her hand, pulling her away.

Clover shivered and threw the sheet over her head. Race would never let that happen, she thought, he would protect her, he would have listened to her at first when she was telling him to let go of her hand. She sighed. It was all just a nightmare anyways. After a few minutes of failing to fall asleep she pulled the covers off her body and got up, quietly walking over to the window. She tried to slide it open as quietly as possible but it was no use, the window creaked and shuttered all the way up. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Story stir in her bed. Without waiting to see if she had woken her up, Clover snuck out the window and onto the fire escape. Stifling a yelp from the cold metal against her bare feet, she made her way up the stairs to the roof. Each time her foot landed on a step the whole fire escape squeaked. In a few moments Clover was up on the roof, looking out on the quiet city. Sighing, she sat down, pulled her legs up against her chest and wrapped her arms around them. The sky was slowly starting to turn from black to blue, in the distance a few birds started to chirp. In the months that Clover had lived at the lodging house, she had never been awake to experience the sun rise. Now, in only a few moments, she would be able to see the beauty of it.

At that moment the fire escape started to creak. Clover looked over to see who it would it be. Story's blonde hair poked up, followed by her beaming face.

"Heya Clover! Fancy meeting you hear!" She said grinning.

Clover smiled in return. Story walked the rest of the way up the stairs and joined Clover, sitting down Indian style.

"Come to enjoy the sun rise have we?" Story asked.

"Sort of," Clover said as she let out a yawn.

There was a moment of silence between the two girls. They both looked out over the buildings as the sun started to make its way into the sky. It caused the dark blue to turn light purple then a beautiful deep red and orange. As it rose it caused the buildings to become almost shadow like, all Clover could notice was big, beautiful, yellow sun rising up, out from behind them. She seemed to be holding her breath, amazed that anything could be this beautiful. The higher the sun got, the more the deep, wonderful colors faded. After a few moments the breath taking experience was over. The sky had turned back to a light blue and birds started to call out to each other. After a minute or two, Clover finally spoke.

"I wish it could stay like that forever."

Story smiled. "If it was always like that, then no one would truly appreciate its beauty. That's what makes it so special."

Clover thought about it, Story did have a point.

"So, Clover, tell me. Why are you up this early?"

Very quickly, Clover debated whether or not to tell Story. In the end she decided on the truth…well, truth enough at least. "You see, lately I've been having this dream. It's been bugging me I guess."

"Do you want to tell me?"

"Umm, no, I don't think I do," Clover said. She didn't want Story to think she couldn't handle a simple reoccurring nightmare.

"Alright," Story said. Clover loved how she wouldn't push the matter.

Story looked over at Clover with a sly grin. "Guess what I heard?"

"What?" Clover asked confused.

"Well, Itey heard from Snitch, who heard from Bumlets, who heard from Skittery, who heard from Blink, who heard from Mush that a certain Newsboy takes a fancy to you."

What a change of subject, thought Clover, although she really didn't mind it at all.

"And who might this Newsboy be?"

"It might be a fine young gentleman named Racetrack," there was a small smile playing on Storys lips as she said it.

Clover blushed. "Considering that, that news passed through all those Newsies…who do have a tendency of improving the truth, I have trouble believing it. And! It all started with Mush! You know that he can be an empty log sometimes! Besides, I don't even like Race like that."

"If you don't like him like that, then why are you still blushing?"

Clover could feel herself blushing even harder. "I am not blushing!"

"Clover, you look like a tomato," Story said in a matter of fact kind of way.

"I do not!"

"Yes, you do. You like Race, Race likes you. You will get together at some point. And Mush is not an empty log. It's the facts. Deal with it."

"That is not the facts!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah! Mush is too an empty log!"

"Clover, don't be mean! He is not."

"Is too!  
"Not!"

"Yes, Story! Last week didn't he try to flush Blinks eye patch down the toilet to see if it would clog it? And the week before, wasn't he the one

to claim he saw Spot plunge head first from the Brooklyn Bridge, causing a big panic? And isn't he the one who talks to his food before eating it, telling him that he's sorry if it hurts while he chews it?"

Story was silent for a moment, thinking it over. "You're right. Mush is an empty log."

"Thank you."

A grin appeared back on Storys' face. "So are you going to ask Race out?"

"No."

"Why not?" She whined.

"Because he doesn't like me."

"But you like him?"

Clover blushed slightly and looked out over the city.

"Clover, answer the question."

With a mumbled sigh she said, "Fine. I guess I like him."

"What was that I couldn't hear."

Still slightly mumbling, "Yes I really like him."

"One more time. I still didn't catch that."

"Yes! I'm in love with Racetrack Higgins!" Clover shouted skyward.

"I knew it…well…everyone knew it actually."

"Am I that obvious?"

"To everyone besides Race, yes."

"Great."

"Don't worry I think I have a plan to get you two together."

Clover sighed. That was just like Story to have plan for something like this.

"We still have to buy Kenzie's dress, right? So I'll have you go out and buy it by yourself…close to night."

"So?"

"Then I'll get Itey to mention how we're making you go out through New York at dusk, to Racetrack. Race will _have_ to offer to go with you because he wouldn't want you walking alone at that hour. Once you guys are together, everything will just unfold. Trust me."

Clover was still unsure. "I dunno Story."

"Come on Clover, I'm your best friend. You gotta trust me."

"Oh, ok."

Story squealed and hugged Clover. Down below them, they could hear Ms. Plumpet trying her best to get up Snoozie.

"We should get going," Story said standing up.

Clover tried to get up but her legs wouldn't allow it. Story looked at her pathetically, smiled, and reached out her hand to help her friend. With a grunt and a pull, Clover was standing.

"So, I'll talk to Itey today and I'd say in about two to three days, you and Race will be holding hands."

"I hope your right."

"I'm always right," She said with a playful grin.  
"You wish."

"Oh, you'll be fine, everything will be perfect."

And as they descended down the fire escape, the cold metal freezing their bare feet, they had no idea what really lay in store for Clover…

**There's the end of chapter, uh, 4? Maybe? I forget what chapter we're on now…Sorry if it bored the newsies out of you. **

**TheRedBandit- Hey! A new person! Yay! I'm glad you like it:-)**

**Racerchick- Hi. Yeah, I was thinking and I decided that I'd keep the same title. I had another one in mind but it just couldn't beat Cheesecake and Pickle Juice…**

**SuNsHiNe and GiGgLeS- OMSH! It's DOTZ!! 333 **

**Pegasus M- Yes, the Cranky Pink Man is Skittery in 3 words. Lol**

**And last and least, FRIZ!- haha, you're really not least…wait, yes you are…never mind! But you're still reading this story so I'm happy. :-)**


End file.
